Feb 10, 2013

A rich, creamy chocolate treat made from semi-sweet chocolate, fat-free milk, vanilla and cornstarch. Layered with a little whipped topped, it's a perfect ending to a special dinner.

I don't have dessert every night, but once in a while, on special occasions, I like to enjoy a sweet treat. Valentine's Day is certainly one of those nights. What's great about this dessert is that you actually make the pudding the day before, so it's easy to assemble just before you are ready to eat.

I love these little glass dessert cups, they are actually from the salvation army but a champagne glass would also work great too.

My light whipped topping of choice is Truwhip – I love that it
contains all natural ingredients, no HFCS, hydrogenated oils, transfats
or GMOs. They also have a light version, but I can't always find it. There's a store finder on their website if you want to find a store near you that sells it. I also heard Trader Joe's sells their own brand with the same ingredients.

In a medium non-stick saucepan, combine milk, sugar, and cornstarch; whisk well and simmer on medium-low heat, whisking constantly until mixture has thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl whisk egg yolk. Slowly add about a cup of the hot milk mixture to the yolk, whisking in about a tablespoon at a time to temper the egg so the egg doesn't cook. Once the egg is tempered, whisk into the saucepan with the milk mixture.

Melt the chocolate squares in the microwave 20 seconds at a time, up to a minute, stirring in between until the chocolate is melted. Pour melted chocolate into the sauce pan, whisk well.

Add vanilla; simmer on low for 15 minutes, whisking constantly.

Transfer the chocolate pudding into a large bowl, cover with wax paper, touching the pudding so that it doesn't allow a film to settle on top. Refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. Makes about 2 3/4 cups.

When cold, place 3 tbsp pudding into each glass, then add 2 tbsp of truwhip in each, then 2 tbsp more pudding and top with a dollop of Truwhip.

I would love to know if this would work as well with almond milk. We religiously use vanilla (sweetened) almond milk. I imagine it would be fine since it's sweet and we use it in place of milk anyway in other recipes.

Your pudding looks so thick, creamy and full of chocolatey delight! I've never tried covering pudding with wax paper and I love this idea because ever time I've used plastic wrap, I've ended up with drops of moisture on top of the pudding. gorgeous!!

I tried making this last night and unfortunately, it just didn't come out right. The milk and cornstarch mixture never thickened, I had it on the stove for about 1/2 hour...should I have cooked it even longer?

I followed the directions closely and did everything correctly, but unfortunately the pudding mixture never set in the fridge even overnight. What did I do wrong? I did as the recipe said simmering it for 15 minutes should I have cooked it longer to get the pudding to be thick like I did with the milk/cornstarch.

Mine never set correctly either, and I'm not sure if I didn't let it thicken long enough on the stove or if I didn't leave it in the fridge long enough. It was still warm coming out of the fridge, so I imagine that was it. I'd like to try it again but I don't want to end up with runny pudding again, so I'll be watching the comments for suggestions!

I had this made in 15 minutes (plus setting over night)and if I had realised how easy it is to make chocolate mousse I would have tried it years ago. Everything was perfect and thoroughly enjoyed by hubby and myself as a Valetines treat with some strawberry's.

I re-made this as per your comments, and I had the same results, perfect. I added the thicken time in my directions to help. The end results were very much like a pudding after it cooled in the refrigerator.

Attempted to make this two nights ago to take to a dinner date with friends. I followed directions as specified but my pudding never thickened either. :( I plan to retest later this week to see if I went wrong somewhere.

Mine thickened! :) I followed her recipe exactly, kept whisking for 20 minutes after I mixed the chocolate with the milk. I kept it in the fridge for 4 hours before serving. Problem was there were some lumpy pieces in there, not sure if this is because I didn't put in the fridge long enough. Any ideas? Would love to make this again wihout the lumps. We still ate it, we mixed kahlua with it :) ~Princy

i love this recipe and have made it several times. the other night however i tried to double it, and it never formed pudding, but rather stayed liquid. any idea what i did wrong? by doubling ingredients, was i maybe supposed to also double the cooking time? thanks gina!

I had the same problem doubling the recipe. I stirred it for over an hour, with no thickening. Finally, I added another 2 T. cornstarch to a cup of the hot milk whisking constantly to work it in, and continuing with the recipe. Doubling made about 10 small servings. Very rich chocolate flavor, so small serving is perfect. I did use real whipped cream. Elegant! Adding a splash of Kahlua or other liquor over each serving would be even more exotic - except for the additional points. Oh, little kids didn't like it. Not sweet enough for them.